A Childhood Promise
by Sentai-Rider Fan
Summary: ONESHOT: When Estelle falls into the lake and is unable to come back up to the shore she begins to remember about her time with Ioder and more importantly about a childhood promise that she made so long ago. Will Ioder save her in time? What will happen?


It was a cold and windy day in Zaphais, the wind had picked up speed since the night before, and now the whole town felt like they were in the middle of winter when it was Spring. There was an overcast and it threatened to rain down heavily on the capital city, however if one were to see up the battlements on top of Zaphias castle the would have seen a lone figure with pink hair and wearing armour on her body, Estelle was looking out at the lake with wonder and amazement in her eyes…the lake had never looked so enchanting or inviting to her and she felt like she could almost touch it but then giggled and withdraw her hand, "Maybe I'll ask Flynn to take me swimming tomorrow" she said to herself, "although…I have no idea how to swim other than to doggy paddle a bit" that was one of the reasons why Flynn was so against the idea of Estelle actually going near the lake unless she was supervised either by him or Sodia because she had her share of almost slipping into the lake itself.

The wind began to pick up speed and Estelle held her ground as the wind threatened to send her flying, not that it could but she always heard those kinds of expressions, "I better go inside before Flynn thinks I've gone off somewhere" Estelle decided as she turned her back towards the door but then in a sudden impulsive thought she decided to climb onto the castle's balcony to see what it felt like, ever so slowly she stepped on it and spread her arm, she felt exhilarated and she almost thought that she was flying, "now I better get down" she said quickly as the wind picked up speed once again however she stumbled on a stone and before she could steady herself she found herself plummeting from the battlement and straight to the cold, icy waters of the lake and the last thing she remembered is her crashing into the water…

"Hey Yuri" Flynn said rushing to his friends side, "have you seen Estelle?" he asked.

"Nope…why isn't she in her room?" Yuri asked, Flynn looked desperate and he was looking left and right hoping he would glimpse their pink-haired princess, "calm down Flynn I'm sure she's somewhere in the castle."

"But she said she was going to her room for a while and I went there but she wasn't there, I checked the library, the infirmary anywhere I can think of but I can't find her" Flynn said in a desperate tone.

"Hey what's with all the ruckus?" Rita asked.

"Flynn can't find Estelle" Yuri calmly stated, "and he's now freaking out."

"I am beyond freaking out Yuri, way beyond that, Rita please tell me you've seen her" Flynn pleaded.

"Sorry I haven't seen her either…how about we try searching the castle again from top to bottom?"

"Good idea" Yuri said, "come on Flynn calm yourself down and help us with the search" suddenly the sky rumbled and he looked out the window, "just hope she's not outside or else she's in trouble."

Estelle was floating under the water, the impact from the fall had temporarily knocked her out, but then the need for oxygen woke her up and she quickly swam to the surface though not without some trouble. Breaking the surface she took a big gulp before she sank again because of her armour she tried to remain above the water but it was hard with the armour she was wearing, 'I knew I should have put it in my room' Estelle thought to herself, 'I'll have to discard if I-' her thoughts were temporarily interrupted as she sank once more this time she almost couldn't swim to the surface but managed to do so out of pure willpower, 'that was close…I'll definitely need to discard it' she then quickly took off the straps to her breastplate and shin guards and felt her body became lighter as the armour slowly sank to the bottom of the lake but she kept her gauntlets in case she needed them.

Estelle tried to swim to the shore but her inexperience in actually swimming didn't help her as she tried to doggy paddle 30 meters towards the shore, to make it worse her body was rapidly becoming numb from the frigid waters of the lake and the downpour of rain didn't help her either, deciding not to fight it she looked around her to see where she could take shelter at least until the conditions became better. She found a vine that was connected to a wall, she slowly swam there but her body was complaining of the cold and her clothes were weighing her down, a few times her head submerged as she lost her rhythm and caused her to panic, by the time she reached the vine she was exhausted and almost fell asleep if it wasn't for the peal of thunder that woke her up, 'can't…sl-sleep here…' she thought to herself as a sudden surge of adrenaline ran through her body and with one final grunt she clasped onto a vine only for it to break from her weight but her other hand managed to grab onto a much more stronger vine.

Pulling herself forward she finally was able to rest from her ordeal and was tempted to close her eyes there and then but then quickly opened them again, "No…n-n-need t-t-to" she stutted from the cold but was unable to finish it, 'need to make sure I won't drown first' she finished with a thought she then wrapped the vine around her wrist and up to her elbow and after giving a sharp jerk she was satisfied that even if she did sleep for a while she wouldn't drown while doing so. She then slowly closed her eyes as the rain droplets assailed her face, 'good…I can sleep now…' she thought to herself as her eyes closed and she fell into a deep sleep.

"Where could she be?" Flynn asked, they had been searching from top to bottom and still there was no sign of their princess, "I'm worried" Flynn said.

"Okay so she's not in the castle maybe she's somewhere in Zaphias?" Yuri suggested.

"Without the castle guards knowing about it?" Flynn retorted.

"Hey I've been climbing up to your room for years and I've never been caught" Yuri retorted back smiling.

Flynn looked at him for a moment before muttering, "Good point…remind me to train them how to be better guards."

Yuri simply shrugged and went towards the exit but deep inside he was also worried about Estelle, it wasn't like her to just disappear, and the fact that they couldn't find it made the situation a whole lot worse than it should be.

Estelle shivered as the rain and the icy water threatened to weaken her body, she had tried to keep warm by ignoring the numbness but it was a losing battle, as she fought off sleep she thought about many things in an attempt to stave off the cold water, her books, her life, her friends who would no doubt be searching for her and most importantly…Ioder. Sweet, kind Ioder who had always been her friend no matter where or what she had done but to Estelle Ioder was more than a friend and a King…he was also her crush she smiled as she remembered the first time that she met Ioder all those years ago.

_Flashback_

"Ah your majesty" an advisor said, "I would like for you to meet my son, Ioder, I heard that Princess Estellise needs a playmate and I would like to offer him."

A young Estelle looked out from behind her father's leg to see a young boy with golden hair and wearing a miniaturized version of a noble's clothes, he was holding his father's hands while looking at her with wonder and amazement, "How do you do your majesty, your ladyship?" he said politely while bowing.

"Ah thank you Richard…yes Estellise does need a playmate she's been rather cooped up in the castle for far too long, perhaps its time that she someone to play with, Estellise say hi to Ioder."

Estelle slowly approached Ioder, her hand still holding onto her father's, she cocked her head to one side and blinked a couple of times. She could see Ioder becoming uncomfortable with Estelle not reacting until she said, "Hello I'm Estellise Sidos Heurassein, how do you do?" she then curtseyed before falling on her butt.

"Oh dear, oh dear you must learn dear how to do that properly without falling down" her father said helping her up.

The advisor laughed, "Well she is only starting to learn so that's no big deal, even young Ioder here had some trouble bowing properly at the start, I'm sure by the time they're old enough they'll learn how to do it without being so awkward."

The two children stared at each other while their father's talked to each other before Ioder asked, "Would you like to see the gardens mi'lady?"

Estelle stared at the boy as she tried to formulate the correct response and she looked out at the window and saw a bird flying by she gasped and said, "Oh yes…I would very much like that thank you" it was a formal response but it held all the yeses the boy needed.

Ioder smiled, "Father I am taking Princess Estellise to the gardens" he informed his father.

"Very good Ioder" his father said and Estelle's father agreed as well, "now you do take care of her."

"Yes father" Ioder said bowing to both of them before gesturing for Estelle to come with him, she smiled and ran ahead making a flustered Ioder run after while a Imperial Knight jogged after them to make sure nothing happened to the two of them

_End Flashback_

A sudden peal of thunder broke Estelle out of her daydream, she looked around thinking she was still in the castle, but her cold body quickly make her face the cold reality she was now shivering non-stop and she was starting to sneeze indicating she was approaching a cold, 'I need to get out of the water' she thought to herself but the question was how? She couldn't doggy paddle all the way to the shore, it just wasn't practical, she considered climbing up the wall to safety, the vines were strong enough and there were enough footholds for her to use, so she tried to lift herself up but found herself unable to due to her body being so numb and cold that it simply wouldn't move. Finally she accepted that unless her body somehow found the strength to move she would have to tough out the night and wait for someone to either raise the hue and cry, in which the Imperial Knights would no doubt rescue her, or someone rescued her directly in which case she would be eternally grateful but for now she would need to do it herself. So she forced her body to climb up the wall, she grabbed onto the vine and lifted herself up while searching for a foothold, she found one and steadied herself before slowly climbing up, it was a slow process as Estelle couldn't see very well in the dark so she had to feel where each foothold was but then she slipped and fell back into the water and swallowed some.

Breaking out of the surface she coughed as she expelled some of the water before going back towards the vines again and making sure that she was still above water, 'oh that didn't work…' she thought to herself as she shivered from the fall and she could feel her body starting to shut down, at least the non-vital ones, she shivered again and decided to take a small nap…she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep dreaming of Ioder again.

_Flashback_

A 10 year old Estelle was inside the castle at the dining hall as nobles and knights alike came to congratulate her for her birthday. She really didn't want to be here but she wanted to please her father who was the king and she knew that if she refused or ran away it would look bad for her family so she decided to wait a while before sneaking away, sighing she quietly said, "If only Ioder was here…then it would be more fun."

Then as on cue Ioder came up to her, "Happy birthday Princess Estellise" he said bowing without a single flaw.

Estelle's face broke into a grin and she said, "Thank you Ioder" she said curtsying without a single flaw either then when the adults were distracted she grabbed Ioder's hand and quickly ran off away from the party before they went to the garden.

"Princess Estellise?" Ioder exclaimed not sure how to respond to such an act, "are you sure we should be here instead of there, surely there-"

"I got bored" Estelle said simply, "I want to play in the gardens again" she then poked a snail which quickly, or at least as quick as a snail could go, ran off.

"But surely Princess Estellise your father would be mad at you" Ioder retorted.

"Hmm…" Estelle said thinking about it, "he doesn't stay mad for long and he's too busy with the other nobles to think about me as does the other adults…come on Ioder play with me."

Ioder looked at Estelle as he tried to formulate the correct response for this situation, he had learned all the protocols that befitted a noble of Zaphias, but he was certainly not taught how to rear an impulsive and stubborn Princess so he relaxed and chuckled a bit, "Very well Princess Estellise…I'll play with you" and he approached her with hands outstretched.

_End Flashback_

"You lost her?" Ioder exclaimed when he heard the news, he was visibly shocked and he couldn't formulate an answer for a moment, "how could you have lost her Flynn?" he asked.

"I'm sorry your highness I-" Flynn began.

"Sorry doesn't cut it Flynn" Ioder growled surprising all present…Ioder usually wasn't this emotional so to see him like this was as surprising as Yuri using the front gates of the castle to visit Flynn.

"I know" Flynn said his head hanging low.

"Find her…fast."

"Yes your highness we're now searching the whole of Zaphias top to bottom and we won't leave any stones unturned."

"Go" Ioder simply ordered and Flynn left along with some knights, he sat down inside his room and looked out the window as the thunder rumbled, "I hope to god she isn't out there somewhere" he muttered as he rested his forehead on the cold window, "stupid Estellise…what did you do now?" he closed his eyes and remembered the first time he and Estelle got into trouble.

_Flashback_

Ioder and Estelle were still playing in the garden during her 10th birthday, they had decided to enjoy the gardens while Estelle named all the flowers depending on their color and how beautiful it was, Ioder was impressed by her knowledge of local fauna, but decided to remain quite about it as per protocol. Then two burly men came up in front of them, "What do we have here?" one of them, a big man with tattoos on his arm sneered, "a noble and a noblewoman…out for a stroll are we?"

Ioder and Estelle was quite surprise and Ioder immediately said, "Who are you two? You do know you're inside…the…" he looked around and realised that they had unknowingly gone _outside _of the castle itself while they were busy naming all the flowers.

The tattooed man laughed, "You're no longer in the castle boy…now I'm sure both of your fathers are very rich considering the clothes you're wearing now…unless you're siblings in which case it's double the money for us."

Estelle was trembling with fear and she was hiding behind Ioder, "W-w-we're not nobles, ou-our father's aren't rich" she said though it was a pathetic attempt at lying as the clothes they were wearing obviously marked them as nobles and from a rich family no doubt.

As expected the two thugs laughed, "You think we're stupid girl?" the other man asked, "we know you're from the noble quarters now come quietly or else…" he let the threat hang.

Ioder had to think fast, judging by their words it seemed that they haven't realised that Estelle was the King's daughter so that could work in his favor, "Okay…I'll go but let my sister go…she's not cut out for this" he said with confidence.

"Again you think we're stupid" the other man said taking out a knife, "now both of you come quietly or else I'll do something really painful."

Knowing that the façade was up he instantly tackled the man with the knife and yelled, "PRINCESS ESTELLISE RUN NOW" while he bit the man on the wrist hard.

"Argh" the man screamed while punching Ioder in the head, "you little brat" he then managed to shake Ioder off, "you hear that? She's a Princess…more money for us then."

"More than we can ever imagine" the tattooed man agreed as he approached Estelle who had started to back away from him.

"N-no…stay back or…or I'll scream" Estelle warned though with her small stature she could really do that effectively.

"Let's see you try missy" the thug said.

"Stay away from her" Ioder growled getting back up and then holding the man's leg, however he was then easily shook off, but he simply got back up again and this time he kicked him hard in the shins.

"What a cheeky little brat" the thug said, "lets see you hit at this" he then plunged the knife into Ioder's shoulder making blood spurt everywhere before Ioder crumbled to the ground.

Upon seeing Ioder Estelle gave the loudest scream of her life, enough to alert the guards at the castle, the thugs gave a mighty yelp at her scream, "Geez who thought a girl could've screamed that loud?" the thug commented covering his ear.

"Screw this let's get out of here" the other man said as he gestured for his partner to come with him who quickly obeyed but not before throwing the knife away.

Estelle began to crawl towards Ioder, "Ioder" she said meekly while rocking him lightly, "Ioder please wake up" she then cried loudly while still trying to wake Ioder up, "Ioder…please wake up, please…"

_End flashback_

A sudden rumble of thunder woke Ioder up, he gasped and the pain on his shoulder flared up again, he groaned and massaged it as it slowly calmed down. He had survived merely because the Imperial Knights had come running towards them, he had been out cold for at least a day after that, although he was praised by everyone for his heroism his father secretly chided him for not paying attention to his surrounding and allowing both him and the Princess to stray outside of the castle. Also in addition the King barred Estelle from ever leaving the castle by herself without some suitable guards to protect her, not that Ioder could blame him considering what had just nearly happened that day, "God Estelle…what kind of trouble are you in now."

Estelle gasped as she realised that the rain had stopped for a while, she looked around and saw that it was dawn, "I've slept through the whole night" she said though weakly it seemed that the night sleeping in the cold water had weakened her so badly that she only managed to not drown because of the vine though if she wasn't found soon then it would be too late no matter what anyone did. As she thought of dying tears came to her eyes, "no…n-not y-y-yet…" she said, "I c-c-can't di-die yet…not until I-I te-tell him…" she closed her eyes and she remembered a childhood promise that she made with him so long ago.

_Flashback_

It was a week after Ioder was attacked and Estelle was sitting in the garden, guarded by an Imperial Knight, Ioder slowly approached him while clutching his shoulder, "Hello Princess Estellise, how are you?" he asked weakly while smiling.

Estelle looked at Ioder, her eyes were red and she was sniffing, "Hello Ioder" she said while trying to stand up.

"Don't Princess…it's fine if it's just with us" Ioder said.

"Oh god Ioder, I'm so, so sorry about what happened a week ago" Estelle said now on the verge of tears as her body trembled.

Ioder smiled and after making sure that there was no one to see this he put his hand on her shoulder and hugged her, "It's fine Princess Estellise…it really is, I'll be fine in a couple weeks and then we can play again in the gardens."

Estelle sobbed into his shoulder before saying, "You sure?"

"Sure as sure as my father used to say" Ioder said smiling.

"Okay then…that's a promise okay?" Estelle said.

"Yep and one other promise."

"Another one? What is it?"

"When we grow up I promise that I'll marry you once you're Queen, I'll be the King and we can rule together."

Estelle smiled at that and kissed him on the cheek, "That would be wonderful Ioder, that's a promise that I'll hold you to till the day I die."

_End flashback_

Estelle had always wondered if Ioder still remembered what happened that day and the promise that he and she made, she sure still remembers and she always wanted to ask if he did but she somehow couldn't find the courage to do it, she was fearful that he would have forgotten it or worse that he rejected it completely. Her body shuddered and she wondered what to do now, "Please…someone save me."

"We can't find her anywhere" Flynn reported, now he was royally freaked as was the other Brave Vesperia, they had searched all night up and down and had literally turned Zaphias upside down but Estelle was nowhere to be found and they were getting worried that something had gone wrong.

"How the hell did this happen?" Ioder asked as he slammed his fist on the desk, "just how the hell did this happen?"

"We're still searching your highness" Flynn said, "we'll probably find her somewhere…"

Ioder sighed and looked out the window…there was overcast and it signalled the start of another torrent of rain, it was times like these that he would like to go back to happier times and just simply let the nostalgia flow, he smiled and looked out the window towards the lake before seriously looking at it and standing up, "Did we check the lake?" he asked to no one in particuluar.

"Uh no…why would she be there?" Flynn asked in confusion.

Ioder didn't answer him but simply got up and ran full speed towards the lake with Flynn, Brave Vesperia and some knights chasing after him, it was the only logical place left, somehow Estelle must've fell into the lake and considering she couldn't swim really well she must either be still struggling or…or…no he couldn't think like that but as he ran tears ran down his face, "Please be alive Estelle oh god please be alive" he muttered praying to whatever god is up there to keep Estelle alive till he got there.

Estelle was near collapse, her body was in complete disarray as she fought to stay awake, she could literally see her breathe condensing into mist indicating that the air temperature was freezing and as she fought to stay awake she thought she could hear Ioder yelling her name but she merely thought it was an hallucination, "I'm sorry Ioder…looks like I can't keep that promise" she whispered before her arm fell from the vine and she began to sink to the bottom of the lake.

Ioder had just reached the lake when he saw Estelle starting to sink, "NO, NO, NO!" he yelled as he dove into the lake without a second thought, 'oh god please don't let her die' he thought to himself as he swam towards her at full speed. She was already submerged so Ioder submerged himself and he quickly went to her and grabbed her arm but she was dead weight as she had already fainted so it was hard for him to drag her while swimming to shore. For a single moment he thought of letting her go but then he rapidly forced it out of his head, 'hell no…I would rather drown with her than abandon her' he put her arm around him and he forcefully dragged her, he was running out of air and his lung was ready to burst from the lack of oxygen but he kept on going, he had to, he just kept on going.

However soon he was also starting to get weak, he had not considered how cold the water would be and his body was starting to go numb, 'Is this how it ends?' he thought to himself sadly as his body started to slow down, 'at least…at least I'm with Estelle…' he then relaxed as he realised that it was useless to fight it and he looked at Estelle and sadly smiled, 'sorry Princess Estellise…looks like either of us can keep the promise' but then he felt a strong hand grab him and he felt himself get pulled to the surface where the took a gulpful of fresh air.

"Okay I got them" Yuri yelled as he dragged Estelle and Ioder to the shore as knights and healers got there double time he put his ear to her heart, "it's faint but she's still alive" he reported as he pushed on her chest and within two pushes Estelle expelled a bucketful of water and she coughed and gasped for air.

"Oh thank god" Flynn said crying, "thank god she's still alive."

"Jesus Estelle you scared us" Yuri said calmly though if anyone was looking closely they could see tears in his eyes.

"Wh-what happened?" Estelle asked before Ioder crashed into her and sobbed his heart out, "Ioder…you saved me?"

"Oh god Estelle I thought I lost you…I really thought you were dead" Ioder said sobbing into her.

"Ioder…I'm…well I'm not okay but I am alive" Estelle said in her usual cheerful way.

Rita had summoned a large fire and Flynn had put a blanket around both of them, Ioder then slowly approached them, "Estelle I have something to ask you."

"Huh? What is it?" Estelle asked.

"Do…do you still remember the promise we made all those years ago?" Ioder meekly asked.

Estelle smiled, "I thought you forgot" she simply said.

"How could I ever forget…in that case" Ioder then went on one knee and asked, "will you marry me? Princess Estellise?"

Estelle smiled and kissed him, "Yes I will marry you Ioder" she said before kissing him again as everyone cheered and congratulated the couple on becoming an item and all of them hoped for the best. However the pair knew that from the moment they met, they would realise their childhood promise and make it a reality, somehow they just knew.


End file.
